In order to carry passengers down Goffe Terrace Monday, the Z3 bus had to swerve around a bank of unplowed snow, crossing the yellow lines into oncoming traffic.

The tight spot was one of dozens neighbors flagged as they called in complaints about narrow streets and high snow piles—questioning the city’s assertion that the post-blizzard cleanup is largely done.

“The department of the public works have over 100 teams at work removing snow from the streets to-day. ... To-day the teams are at work in Chapel and Church streets. The city is paying $5 per day for double teams and $3 for single teams.”

Eight tri-axle dump trucks lined up to help return Woodward Avenue to normalcy five days after Winter Storm Nemo buried it. In cities more accustomed to big blizzards, monster snow-removal vehicles might have arrived earlier—with plow “wings” on the side.

When a 100-year blizzard dropped massive amounts of snow, the response had to be just as big: 35-ton payloaders designed for quarries, an army of round-the-clock workers from across the state, $750,000 of contract labor—and a mountain range rising on the East Shore.